JOXASA

introducing John Sanders, a designer who creates leather cuffs through his company JOXASA. Inspired by leather John has carefully crafted a line of one of a kind luxury leather cuffs, each design is handmade. High levels of creativity and imaginative inspiration are required to sustain a brand of this magnitude. FIR celebrates, diversity and culture this brand has embodied both.

The name JOXASA derives from the combination of his full name: John Xavier Sanders.

“Unless specifically requested, every piece of jewelry is made as its own unique piece of art,” says Sanders. The primary base material for the collection is fine Italian leather. “(Leather’s) natural,” he says “I love the way it feels. It’s luxurious. It spoke to me as a medium. It was one of those things that stuck.”

Through the growth of his company, the current focus on the new collection is on the leather cuffs. These wrist accessories vary in colors, width, and overall design. Sanders has enlisted the aid of Ken Hamrick to custom cast some of the cuffs’ ornaments.

JOXASA is a brand that knows and appreciates high-quality leather. Each cuff and bracelets are carefully crafted from the finest Italian leather. Each bracelet consists of two layers of leather; the inside layer that sits on the wrist is a combination of soft deerskin and suede for wearable comfort, while the top layer is an intricately designed piece of leather that shows off the artwork that goes into every piece of jewelry.

Every piece is hand stitched and handcrafted at JOXASA. Each piece is designed to be 100% unique.

JOXASA is an acronym of John Xavier Sanders. The brand is to be pronounced yoke-sa, borrowing a bit from Latin pronunciations. However, the brand representing luxury leather goods has been somewhat of an evolution. In the 90’s John studied fashion in Atlanta his interests were more garment based. In the midst of those studies, John found that he enjoyed the characteristics of leather both stylistically and substantively

Leather represents strength, power, and durability and I like the idea of creating pieces that would be timeless. Leather cuffs have existed since the Ancients (Greece and Egypt) and were worn to protect as well as to convey status and power. They possess a wonderful mixture of militaristic, pagan, religious, and utilitarian inspirations that I love to play with and mix together in my work. Hell, even Wonder Woman wears cuffs

— John Sanders

The current collections are made of varied whims and obsessions are. Urban, Understated, Collaborations, and Fantasy. The Urban Collection is a bit more masculine that the other three collections. There are less adornment, more layered leather work and a simple yet bold approach to hardware. The Understated Line shows a restraint in all areas of design – the result is a subtle or more traditional leather cuff.

John is currently collaborating with a jeweler to create, sterling, copper and jeweled work. These pieces are represented on JOXASA on the “Collaborations” page. These are substantial pieces both in their physical weight and in their uniqueness. The Fantasy Collection is where his inspirations become completely untethered by any sort of restraint